Quinnipiac University students are experiencing confusion and inconvenience as a new policy was implemented for parking at Hilltop lot, preventing them from entering campus at the service entrance.

A document outlining the new short-term parking policy states that “the intent is to provide convenient, temporary access to the main campus area while maintaining overall parking availability and campus safety.”

The implementation of the new policy has prevented sophomore students, with a U2 parking pass for students with 27-56 credits, from entering campus at all.

“(The Public Safety officer) saw my sticker up in the front, and he was like ‘you can’t come in here at all,’ and I was confused. Why can’t I come in?” Layla Cox, a sophomore in the film, television and media 3+1 program, said.

She was told not to enter campus at the service entrance next to the College of Arts and Sciences because sophomores are not permitted to park in Hilltop Lot.

First-year and sophomore students are not permitted to park in Hilltop Lot during weekdays. Any student with a valid parking pass may park in Hilltop Lot on the weekends starting on Friday at 5 p.m. until Monday 5 a.m.

“It’s crazy. I’m just going to go pick people up,” Cox said.

Many students have similar experiences from the past few weeks. Some have had their licenses taken at the gate in exchange for a 20-minute parking pass issued by Public Safety. Licenses are only returned to students as they leave campus.

“If a student does not have a valid parking permit for Hilltop and wishes to drop off passengers or groceries, they may request a 20 minute temporary pass.” Elizabeth Brown, executive director of One Stop, in coordination with Public Safety, wrote to the Chronicle.

This policy is a new addition to the existing parking rules and regulations.

“Drivers who are dropping off passengers must provide the gate officer a form of identification (driver’s license or student ID). They will be given a temporary pass and granted access for a 20-minute period. The driver will receive their identification back when they return the pass to the officer at the gate,” Brown wrote.

The document outlining these changes will be integrated into the existing parking policy this summer in preparations for the 2026-27 school year.

As of now, “The document was recently developed to ensure that the policy is clear and was shared with all Public Safety officers and One Stop Employees,” Brown wrote.

The new policy has left students confused and irritated as they try to navigate parking on main campus.

“It does not make sense that the people who live on main campus cannot park on main campus,” Lauren Fadairo, a sophomore data science and business analytics double major, said.

Many students share her frustration. Some students are concerned that the new policy is unnecessary given the existing parking policy.

“They’re not worried about the fact that we’re going to stay in there because if we stay there, we’re going to get a ticket anyway,” Fadairo said.

So far, the new policy has only created more inconvenience for students as they struggle to understand the logistics.

“If they take the (student ID) card, how are they even going to get in (to their dorm)?” Fadairo said.

Many students are left wondering why this policy was created and what to do going forward.

“I mean, I get it. You don’t want people to go in there if they’re not supposed to, and you don’t want campus to be in any danger, but I am a Quinnipiac student. So I don’t understand why I’m not allowed to go in there and pick someone up or drop someone off,” Cox said.

Students looking for more information regarding parking rules and regulations can find them on the parking page of the Quinnipiac website